Demi Lovato came out as nonbinary this week, saying her pronouns are they/them. So, of course, many news outlets immediately began referring to the pop star with her preferred pronouns.
There are pieces in Time, CNN, the Washington Post, and plenty of other outlets that now refer to Lovato as “they,” which Merriam-Webster recognizes as a gender-neutral singular pronoun. An Associated Press story noted, “Lovato said they picked gender-neutral pronouns as ‘this best represents the fluidity I feel in my gender expression.’”
No matter that Lovato is clearly a biological woman.
News outlets referring to Lovato as they/them may seem absurd, but it’s nothing out of the ordinary. Most news outlets generally use the Associated Press style, and AP style uses the singular they for people who identify as nonbinary.
The AP’s mainstreaming of woke gender ideology doesn’t stop there. The AP has some control over the English language — and it uses that influence to reinforce liberal ideology time after time.
According to AP style, a news story will call a transgender woman “she” or a transgender man “he.” If you read an AP story about California Republican gubernatorial candidate Caitlyn Jenner, you will see instances of “she” and “her,” referring to someone who is biologically male. (Years ago, Jenner was a great male Olympic athlete.) This use of pronouns is now common practice. Still, the AP also stresses that writers should call people transgender “only if relevant” and “avoid references to being born a boy or girl,” as if it wants to sweep reality under the rug.
Immigration is another clear example of the AP’s agenda. What does the AP call people who live in the country illegally? Not illegal alien, illegal immigrant, or illegals — unless it’s quoting someone. In 2018, AP tweeted, “Acceptable variations include living in or entering a country illegally or without legal permission.” Illegal alien and illegal immigrant are concise terms that let readers know someone illegally lives in a country. What illegal immigrants are doing is illegal — regardless of whether one agrees with current immigration law. There’s no reason to hedge.
Not to mention, the AP advised its employees against using the term “crisis” to describe the U.S.-Mexico border crisis. It seems like an appropriate term when an influx of people trying to enter the country overwhelms understaffed border patrol.
Abortion is another topic in which the AP fumbles. It uses “anti-abortion” rather than “pro-life” for people who oppose abortion, which is fine, but the other side isn’t “pro-abortion.” It’s “pro-abortion rights” or just simply abortion rights. You know, as in the right to kill an unborn human.
AP style also discourages the use of “riots.” AP wrote in a tweet last fall, “Focusing on rioting and property destruction rather than underlying grievance has been used in the past to stigmatize broad swaths of people protesting against lynching, police brutality, or for racial justice, going back to the urban uprisings of the 1960s.” When people loot stores, light businesses on fire, and cause billions in property damage across the country, political correctness shouldn’t be the top concern.
Plus, the AP no longer accepts the term “mistress” and says that “friend” and “companion” are better terms. If it’s more worried about offending people who are responsible for the breakdown of family units than the destruction of families, there is a serious problem.
It’s unfortunate AP style will continue veering left in the coming years, as it typically does. It has a lot of influence, and it should use that to present fair and balanced journalism instead.
Tom Joyce (@TomJoyceSports) is a political reporter for New Boston Post in Massachusetts. He is also a freelance writer who has been published in USA Today, the Boston Globe, Newsday, ESPN, the Detroit Free Press, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Federalist, and a number of other outlets.
